Electronic shelf labels provide a convenient way to display prices and other relevant information about goods. A retail location may have hundreds or thousands of electronic shelf labels that receive pricing and other information transmitted by one or more communication base stations, which format and transmit messages to the labels based on requests by a central server, and which receive messages from the labels and relay the messages to the central server. The messages transmitted to the labels may include, for example, data for storage and display, commands and requests for status and messages transmitted by the labels may include, for example, responses to queries and status reports.
In a typical system, messages are periodically transmitted to the labels in order to check the status and contents of the labels. For example, a message may be transmitted to each label requesting an indication of the information stored in the label, and each label's response may be compared to previously stored expected information for the label. Reports may be prepared showing lists of labels showing incorrect status, such as discrepancies in stored information, improper responses to queries, or other indications of improper status. Reports typically list labels by serial number.
Once a report has been prepared, it is often desired to inspect each label listed in the report or to remove the label for testing or replacement. However, labels are numerous and similar in appearance, so that with prior art installations, it may be difficult to identify a particular label.